Security Testing vs. Penetration Testing – Which One Should You Choose?

Across the globe, there is an exponential increase in adoption of mobile phones and the internet. The phenomenon is no longer limited to developed nations, but paved waves into developing nations as well. Let’s take the case of a developing country like India where the mobile internet user base is expected to reach 1.5 billion^[1] by 2040.

However, internet consumers need to keep the old adage ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ in mind when browsing on the internet. This is because cyber-attacks, data breaches, and other such incidents are on a continuous rise. Even experienced internet users fall prey to cyber-attacks!

As per reports, close to 92 percent^[2] of the data breaches in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 is due to cyber-attacks. The onus of minimizing the probability of data breaches and cyber-attacks also lies in the hands of enterprises whose apps (or websites) are used by their customers.

This is where enterprises can lean on security testing to make their products more robust and secure from a customer’s point of view. In this blog, we will cover the integral aspects of security testing, along with deep diving into penetration testing (which is also a form of security testing). We will also touch base on the key differences between security tests and penetration tests.

So, let’s get started…

What is Security Testing?

As the name indicates, security testing is a broad term that encompasses the tests conducted for detecting the vulnerabilities in the product. Security tests are conducted to detect vulnerabilities in the network, product, and the physical environment.

Since there are threats of data getting leaked (or stolen) when it is in transit, it becomes essential to ensure that data security aspects are met whether the data is at rest or in transit. Security tests help in minimizing the risks of data thefts, network thefts, cyber attacks, and other forms of online attacks.

Since no product can go live without adequate security testing, it is recommended to partner with a security testing services company. This approach is particularly recommended in case there are no experienced resources well versed with security testing.

Also Read – Mobile App Security Testing Checklist

Mentioned below are the major forms (or types) of security testing:

1. Black Box Security Testing

In this form of security testing, the team members don the hat of a real attacker. The members receive every piece of information regarding internal structuring of the system. The security tests are based on the request-response mechanism.

2. White Box Security Testing

Akin to black box security testing, here also the testers have every detail about the internal structure of the system. However, the tests are performed at the implementation level and testers check whether the existing implementation is aligned to the security requirements.

3. Grey Box Security Testing

This form of security testing is an amalgamation of black box and white box security testing. The testers who perform grey box security tests do not have complete understanding of the code structure.

Instead, they are provided with the login credentials to identify the potential damage that a malicious actor can do if (s)he has access to the product.

What is Penetration Testing?

For starters, penetration testing (or pen testing) is also a form of security testing where cyber-security experts try to exploit the security vulnerabilities in the system.

Zed Attack Proxy, sqlmap, Hashcat, Wireshark, nmap, Hydra, and Burp Suite are some of the most prominent penetration testing tools. The intent of running pentests is to build a more secure end product by unearthing the security vulnerabilities present in the system.

As mentioned earlier penetration testing is an integral type of security testing. Ethical hacking, network scanning, and vulnerability scanning are some of the other major types of security testing. In the interest of time, we would not deep dive into each & every type of security testing.

Also Read – Best Practices for Mobile App Penetration Testing

Security Testing vs. Penetration Testing

In penetration testing, pen testers identify the security vulnerabilities in the product; along with prioritizing the vulnerabilities based on their impact. If pentesting is also a type of security testing, how different is it from the other forms of security testing?

Let’s look at the differences in this section…

1. Security testing comprises different types – vulnerabilities scanning, API security testing, web application security testing, configuration scanning, and pentesting.

On the other hand, penetration testing (or pentesting) is a specialized form of security testing.

2. In security testing (barring aside pentesting), testers do not exploit the security vulnerabilities. Due to this, they do have any detailed guide on how to fix the issues.

On other hand, testers performing penetration testing always exploit the security vulnerabilities and provide a detailed fixation guide.

Also Read – Reasons Why Penetration Testing Is Important

3. As far as time duration for running tests is concerned, penetration tests take significantly longer than other forms of security testing. The test execution duration can vary from a few hours to days. This is because vulnerabilities have to be exploited in the system.

On other hand, security tests like vulnerability scanning can take around 20 minutes to 60 minutes.

4. Companies dealing with a large amount of sensitive data generally opt for penetration testing.

On the other hand, companies opt for other forms of security tests when they have to just perform security audits at a surface level. Since data has become an integral part of every business, it is recommended to consider penetration testing on priority.

Onboarding an experienced security testing company can be helpful in expediting the security and pentesting process.

If pentesting is so critical, the million $ question is which businesses should not skip penetration testing at any cost?

When To Opt for Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing constitutes of different phases namely:

1. Information Gathering and Renaissance
2. Scanning
3. Vulnerabilities Assessment
4. Exploitation
5. Analysis

Refer the Infographic from KiwiQA that deep dives into the various phases of penetration testing: